Since 1877

Fox News host Megyn Kelly may need Donald Trump to get mad at her all over again.

In the wake of Tuesday’s non-fireworks interview with the Republican presidential candidate, the Washington Post noted that “her status as a media darling appeared to disappear.”

In the wake of her interview, Kelly — who had wide support while battling with Trump during the GOP primary process — found herself on the receiving end of criticism from her media colleagues.

“Megyn Kelly didn’t ask Donald Trump to headline her Fox special Megyn Kelly Presents so she could pin him down on foreign and domestic policy issues, or even confront him about the months-long troll attack he launched after she dared question him during the first Republican debate about his penchant for misogynistic language,” Los Angeles Times media critic Mary McNamara wrote. “No, she invited him to costar in an hour-long infomercial for her new book.”

Gabriel Sherman, writing in New York magazine, said the interview “exposed the extent of her limited mainstream appeal.”

Sherman went on to quote unnamed TV executives scoffing at her audience of 4.8 million viewers.

“Not good for her at all,” one said; while others said Kelly needed an audience of 9 million to achieve breakthrough status.

Kelly has publicly raged at critics who demeaned the show, but Sherman reports Kelly acts differently in private.

“She’s very upset with the show reaction, and in hindsight with how it was produced,” she quotes a Fox official as telling her.

Sherman said reaction to the interview will have high stakes for Kelly, who is in the final year of her contract with Fox.

“Before the special, she had maneuvered herself into a position of significant leverage over her boss Roger Ailes and seemed poised to land either a new deal from Fox with a salary in the $25 million range or a plum job at another network. Industry sources said Ailes couldn’t afford to lose Kelly. Now her advantage looks smaller,” Sherman wrote